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Thursday, November 19, 2015

YAHAPALANAYA – Will happen if we follow these steps (Part Two)

My first assault was on the Police
Department and the need to strengthen its capacity and integrity, in the
previous entry, and resources will have to be given.

Stage two is the Attorney General’s
Department. If my recommendations are followed, not only will the short term
Yahapalanaya crimes be brought to book, but the whole Judicial System, will
come to 21st Century levels of efficiency and productivity, that
will encompass crime, prison reform, clearing up society of some endemic
problems of drugs and its spread. Leaving no room for religious militancy, in
any form, and certainly not having to implement a Jihad against the Jihadists!

Lets start at the top. We need to run
the AGs department like a company. A new AG from outside MUST be appointed to
clean up the mess. He will need two able PAs with power. They will not be
lawyers. Perhaps MBAs or Accountants or administrators tasked with efficiently
running the department.

So let’s start with the AG. The current
crop of Kapilas, Navaratnas, Suhadas are NOT UP TO THE TASK AT HAND. They will
have to put out to pasture, to some foreign mission, as their presence WILL
undermine the task of the new AG. Effectively the whole second string will be
furloughed. This will leave the third string to show their colors under the new
rules, new methods of measurement to perform to their utmost with NO
POLITICIZATION and backstabbing!

Can anyone tell me why if at all he is
not qualified to be the next Attorney General! He will have two competent
people to help him change the whole system. I don’t have time to breakdown the
areas of authority, but to say that a triumvirate will make his task that much
easier as it is otherwise too stressful to carry out effectively on one’s own.

First task is to ask Parliament to give
them authority for ONE year to advise the Police (CID, FCID etc.) of how to conduct
the investigations, as they are not being sufficiently thorough with evidence
and detail in order to prosecute at present, and the Media and Public are
taking he AGs office to task at the incompetence of the Police department.
Historically the AGs department don’t talk to the press, and so are unable to
explain the reasons for this delay.

The next task is to re organize the
whole department. Independently evaluate the competence of all senior state
counsel and actually ask them for their own opinion on what is wrong, and how
they would change the system were they given the task!

A thorough training program of the State
Counsel is needed to get them up to speed not necessarily in the law, which
they are competent on but in areas where their individual productivity can be
greatly improved and if need be assistants given to them to train others to
take some of the work, or easy case loads. They are currently overworked, and
so are not doing justice to justice!

Then a resource requirement review to
give them the tools to do their job, more effectively. That includes transport,
computer and stenographer and other tools. Better accommodation to house them,
and a thorough review of the 50+ High Court staffing from the AGs department.
Case-load, backlog, evidence shortfalls, and training. Then a separate unit
should be immediately set up to handle the myriad of ADVICE FILES and that
backlog can be cleared, making their task all the more easy. State Counsel
having to do this in their spare time is not the way to go as is done at
present.

Performance evaluation measures must be
put in place so that merit advancement takes place, so competent people can
rise up the ladder faster, and not just time servers who are incapable.
Recruitment to this department must be handled professionally to get the best,
and the reputation of the AGs department will automatically rise, helping all
those who will finally move out, to get the best training that will hold them
in later life. In that sense the actually pay scales need not be high as the
value of training will outweigh any shortage in remuneration.

International exposure should be part of
the perks earned for competent handling of cases ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF
DUTY, and judges will also be asked to assess these State Counsel, so that
their evaluation will truly be meritocratic.

This resulting overhaul, will create a
CULTURE of competence, and pride in the service, and will be the envy of the legal
profession in Sri Lanka. Incompetent lawyers who defend their clients, will know
the State Prosecutors are top class, working on behalf of the state to bring rascals
to book!

The Justice Minister’s intervention must
only be on matters or administration and not of managing any single case. This will
make for a powerful AG, who will be able to back his department, against any criticism
laid against them, and I have no doubt that ALL lawyers will back me in this proposal!

I also propose a weekly meeting between the Attorney General and IGP, in order to smooth out all prosecutorial issues, so that Justice will speed up, and backlogs will not arise, and misunderstandings kept to a minimum.